Fate casts shadow on Pittsburgh

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, May 12, 1999

IT HAPPENED five years ago Wednesday. Or, more accurately, it didn't happen.

There, right smack dab in the middle of the Sharks' Cinderella playoff run of 1994, Sandis Ozolinsh led a three-on-one break in overtime of Game 6 at Toronto. Goaltender Felix Potvin was basically all that stood in the way of San Jose's reaching the conference finals in just its third NHL season.

Would Potvin stop the shot? We never found out because, inexplicably, Ozolinsh never shot. And the Sharks have not ventured as deep into the postseason since.

"In the previous series with Detroit, he had passed back to Igor Larionov for a goal on the exact same play," said Kevin Constantine.

Jeff Norton was Ozolinsh's partner on defense. They were part of an offensively blessed five-man unit that included forwards Sergei Makarov, Johan Garpenlov and Larionov. Along with stellar goaltending from Arturs Irbe, the group was mainly responsible for San Jose's magical run.

"When you look back, sure, he probably wishes he'd shot, but that's how we played," Norton said recently. "It was typical of that group to pass the puck. That's how we played all year."

Constantine was a rookie coach with the Sharks that season. He guided a below-.500 regular-season team to a seven-game upset of top-seeded Detroit in the first round, and was on the verge of leading the Sharks into a battle for a Stanley Cup finals berth against Vancouver.

Constantine has to go through Toronto again - this time with Pittsburgh - if he is to realize a conference finale. And while his team doesn't carry the Cinderella tag, despite being an eighth seed again, the Pens are skating with even bigger issues at stake.

The financially strapped hockey team is trying to find an investor to keep the team in Pittsburgh amid threats from the league that it is ready to dissolve the club's assets if a resolution isn't reached by the end of the month.

OK, who gets Jaromir Jagr?

The league filed its plan Tuesday before a federal bankruptcy court judge, who is expected to decide the Penguins' fate next month.

As former Penguin Mario Lemieux continues to head one potential group of investors, NHL lawyer Jeffrey Levitan said Tuesday that an individual has offered $85 million to buy the team and move the franchise. Levitan would not reveal the potential buyer's name. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman would not confirm reports that the prospective buyer is billionaire Paul Allen, who owns the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.

The NHL's reorganization plan calls for the Penguins to be sold to a new owner in another city or dismantled through a dispersal draft. According to one report, Allen could be involved in the first scenario, with the Penguins moving to an undisclosed city in the Pacific Northwest.

All in all, Constantine & Co. have to keep their focus on the ice. If the Penguins, up 2-1 in the conference semifinals, can eliminate the Maple Leafs, they will be playing in the East finals when the league's deadline to disband the team hits.

Minor doings&lt;

The Sharks' top affiliate, Kentucky of the American Hockey League, and defending Calder Cup champ Philadelphia are tied in games, 2-2, in a Western Conference semifinal after Tuesday's 4-3 win by the visiting Phantoms. Game 5 is set for Thursday in Lexington, Ky.

Thoroughblades goaltender John Nabokov was ranked second in both save percentage (.934) and goals against average (2.07) before Game 4. He also posted the only shutouts of the playoffs, registering two in the last series against the Hershey Bears.

Yap, yap, yap . . .&lt;

Matthew Barnaby's talk may be cheap, but his actions Sunday night were not. Pittsburgh's main antagonist has been billed $300 (Canadian) by the Air Canada Centre for a temper-tantrum renovation of a hallway with his hockey stick after the Leafs' 4-2 win in Game 2.

Enraged by a comment from a spectator as he left the ice after the game, Barnaby used his stick to dent the ceiling and walls that separate the private boxes from the corridor adjoining the visitors' dressing room.

"He was notified immediately and said, "I'll pay whatever it is,' " said Bob Hunter, the building's general manager. "Damage was minimal, mostly drywall and paint."

Barnaby was too busy coming up with one-liners. Asked to measure Tie Domi's on-ice wit against his last playoff adversary, New Jersey defenseman Lyle Odelein's, Barnaby said: "Going into a war of wits with him wouldn't be fair. He's unarmed."

Around the league&lt;

There were a record number of close games in the first round of the playoffs - the most since the league went to a best-of-seven format for openers in 1987. Of the 44 games, 23 were decided by one goal (52.3 percent) and 35 by two goals or fewer (79.6). Additionally, 11 games went into overtime, the most since 14 in 1993. . . . From all indications, the Devils won't offer new deals to Bob Carpenter or Dave Andreychuk, both of whom will be 36 at the start of next season.

In case you were wondering, the average NHL salary in 1998-99 was just shy of $1.3 million. . . . The Flames already have 19-year-old Robyn Regehr ticketed to appear on their blue line next year. A big, tough, physical player, Regehr was the "player to be named later" in Calgary's deal to send Theoren Fleury to Colorado late in the season. &lt;